Water feed for steam iron



Dec. 11, 1956 J. R. GOMERSALL ,77

WATER FEED FOR STEAM IRON Filed May 25, 1953 I nn gi6 4 IN V EN TOR.

( Zak/v i Gzzzensal United States Patent WATER FEED FOR STEAM IRON John R. Gomersall, Elgin, 111., assignor to McGraw Electric Company, Elgin, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application May 25, 1953, Serial No. 357,601

12 Claims. (Cl. 38-77) This invention is concerned with a steam iron of the flash type.

The flash boiler type of steam iron has a reservoir from which water is delivered drop by drop to a boiler that is otherwise dry. Each drop of water evaporates quickly, or flashes into steam, so that steaming can be stopped quickly by shutting off the flow of water from the reservoir.

It is desirable that a steam iron be compact and trim, and easily maneuverable. To meet these requirements there has evolved a low, heated sole plate and evaporator structure with a water tank overlying it. But this arrangement still presents certain problems unsolved in the prior art. The close spacing of the parts tends to cause considerable heat transmission from the sole plate to the tank and water valves. A small orifice is necessary for controlling the rate at which water is delivered to the evaporator. In addition, it is desirable to provide a manual valve by means of which the water flow can be turned off and on at the will of the operator. Few housewives will take the trouble to obtain distilled water, and accordingly tap water, which generally contains minerals, is most often used. The heat delivered to the valve and orifice tend to precipitate minerals there from the water and thereby to reduce the flow of water. Furthermore, any water, and particularly tap water, is likely to contain dissolved gas (principally air). The ability of water to hold gas in solution is reduced as the temperature rises, and consequently heating of the flow control orifice and of the valve or valves is likely to cause gas to be expelled from the water at these points, where it will form small bubbles which catch in the small openings and reduce or stop the water flow.

Most present-day irons are up-ended on their heels during idle time, and the change to this position from the horizontal operative position preferably is utilized to interrupt the water feed. This action prevents steam generation during idle time and materially increases the time between fillings. Valves for performing this function in priorirons often have been complicated and expensive. Furthermore, prior irons have frequently suffered from a substantial time lag after an iron has been returned to horizontal position and before steam generation again has started.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a steam iron which overcomes all of the above noted problems.

More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide a steam iron wherein the valves and flow control or metering orifice are kept cool with the iron in operatting position and also with the iron upended-in idle position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a steam iron wherein the water passage adjacent the boiler or steam generating chamber is kept cool.

Another object of this invention is to provide a steam iron having improved structure for quick starting after 2,773,321 Patented Dec. 11, 1956 being returned to horizontal operating position from an up-ended non-steaming, idle position.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a steam iron requiring a minimum of space for operating parts and having a maximum of space for a water storage tank.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a steam iron of simplified structure and simplified assembly.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of a flash boiler type steam iron incorporating the principles of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the front part of the steam iron showing the various operating parts thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of a portion of Fig. 2 with the iron in partially up-ended position showing the ready closing of the valve; and

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Referring now in greater particularity to the figures there is shown a flash boiler type steam iron 10 having a handle 12 of molded plastic or other suitable heat insulating construction, a top casing 14, and a sole plate 18. A suitable thermostatic control for the sole plate has an adjusting member 16 mounted on the casing 14 immediately in front of the rear portion of the handle 12.

The sole plate 18 includes a portion 22 which rises within the casing 14, and contains a suitable electric heating element, a boiler or steam generating chamber 24, and

suitably-bathed ducts extending from the steam chamber through the sole plate to the bottom thereof for the passage of steam.

The steam generating chamber 24 is closed at the top by a thin, fiat plate 26 secured in place by any suitable means such as screws 28. This plate is preferably thin for keeping its heat conductivity low. A water storage tank or reservoir 30 is housed within the casing 14 and is supported at the front end by a bracket 32 which sets atop the plate 26, and at the rear end by a bracket (not shown) mounted on the sole plate. The tank or reservoir 30 is provided with an opening near the front and on top thereof aligned with a cylindrical opening in the front post of the handle 12. A cylindrical sleeve, liner, or fill tube 34 is brazed or otherwise sealed into this tank opening. The upper end of tube 34 extends up through the aperture in the handle and is internally threaded at the top for receipt of a bushing 36.

The lower end of tube 34 terminates slightly above the bottom of tank 39 and loosely surrounds a valve body 38. Just below the top of tank 30, and above the valve body 38, tube 34 has an opening 40 in its forward wall for providing communication between the interior of the tube and the interior of the tank 30. Water poured into the upper end of the fill tube 34 thus passes into the tank 30. Opening 40 also provides a vent to the atmosphere from the top of the tank 30 at the front thereof. As may be seen in Fig. 2, the upper end of the fill tube leans forward for keeping its opening high when the iron is up-ended in its idle position, on its heel.

The tank 30 is provided with a generally flat bottom which has a tipped up portion 42 aligned with the fill tube 34 and perpendicular to the axis thereof. The valve body 38, received in the lower end of the sleeve 34, has a generally cylindrical body portion with a flat end engaging the tank portion 42. The valve is provided with a reduced neck 44 extending through the tank bottom portion 42 and externally threaded. The valve is provided with a central bore 46 which leads into a reduced orifice 48 in the neck 44. A pair of right-angularly arranged diametral bores 50 lead into the axial bore 46 immediately above the orifice 48 to pass water from the tank or reservoir 30 to the interior of the metering valve for controlled or metered flow through the orifice 48.

A reservoir coupling 51 is threaded on the neck 44 on the outside of the tank to clamp the metering valve tight against the sloped portion 42 of the tank bottom. The reservoir coupling 51 is provided with a fore-and-aft transverse passage 56 with a rear discharge opening 52 in which is received a water tube 54 extending rearward from the coupling in a horizontal position. A front opening in the coupling 51 is closed by a threaded plug 58.

A valve ball 68 is contained in the transverse bore 56 and normally rests in a recess 62 when the iron is in horizontal, operative position. The tube 54 is provided with a circumferential indentation or restriction 57 immediately adjacent its front end for forming a valve seat for ball 68. When the iron is tip-ended to idle position, the ball 68 falls back onto this seat for closing off the flow. In Fig. 3 it may be seen that the ball rolls back into this position as soon as the iron is tipped through a small angle.

The tube 54 is closed at its rear end by a plug 64, and a T-sbaped fitting 66 constituting a steam chamber connector fits over the tube 54 a bit forward from this end. The bottom of tank 38 is embossed at 67 to clear this fitting 66,for impeding the conduction of heat therebetween. The connector 66 is provided with a threaded coupling 68 extending through an opening in the plate 26 into the steam generating chamber 24, and held by a nut 70. A bore 72. extends through the connector axially of the threaded coupling and is aligned with a lateral opening 74 in tube 54 for establishing communication between the steam generating chamber 24 and the interior of the tube. This opening 74, being forward from the rear-end plug 64, leaves a water pocket 75 in the rear end of the tube.

The tube 54 is formed with a circumferential indentation or neck 76 immediately forward of the opening 74. This neck serves as a dam in cooperation with neck 57 for forming a small basin 77 for catching water. Neck 76 also serves to limit the rate at which water can be poured therethrough out of basin 77 when the iron is tilted up. During the time that the iron is in use in its horizontal position with water flowing from tank 38, the neck 76 dams up a small pool of water in basin 77, Then when the iron is tilted up to its idle position this water is poured out through neck '76, a part of it being dumped into pocket 75 at the rear end (now the bottom) of tube 54. A part of this Water may flow through opening 74 into the steam-generating chamber, but at this particular time steam is not wanted because the iron is being lifted from the work. Since water poured from basin 77 will escape through opening 74 less easily when the iron has been tilted up to an erect position, the construction 76 conserves this water by retarding the pouring so that not all the Water from basin 77 is poured out while the iron is at a low angle of tilt. While the iron is in its upended, idle position, ball 60 will shut off the flow at 77, but any leakage will fill pocket 75 before overflowing through opening 74 into the steam chamber. Subsequently when the iron is tilted forward to ironing, water will pour quickly from pocket 75 down the opening 74 into the steam chamber 24 so that steam will be supplied substantially as soon as theiron touches the work. As the water pours forward from pocket 75, the constriction 76 helps prevent excessive diversion into basin 77. The

fact that the lower lip of opening 76 lies above the bot- I tom (as seen in Fig. 2) of pocket also helps to direct water from pocket 75 into opening 74 by impeding forward flow at that point.

The steam chamber connector 66 has beenshown as having a collar portion encircling the tube 64, but it is to be understood that this could just as well be a. saddle portion brazed or otherwise secured to the tube. It further is to be understood that the tube could be formed of two parts threaded or fitted into the opposite ends of the steam chamber connector 66, and that the darn 76 could be formed in the interior of the steam chamber connector rather than in the tube. Similarly, the valve seat for the ball 68 could be formed in the reservoir coupling 44 rather than in the tube 54.

Provision is made for manually shutting off the flow of water from the reservoir or tank 30 to the steam generating chamber 24. To this end, there is provided an elongated valve stem 78 mounted axially in the sleeve or fill tube 34 and projecting into the axial bore 46 of the valve body 38. The lower end of valve stem 78 is provided with a central bore in which is mounted a valve pin 88 which is clamped by a flattened portion 84 of stem 78. The valve pin 88 is of small diameter and has a sharpened lower end 82 adapted to project into the orifice 48 of the valve 38. The lower end of the valve stem 78 is bevelled for seating against a seat surrounding the orifice 48 to shut off the flow of water manually.

The valve stem 78 is supported near its upper end by an actuator 86 which extends into the fill tube 34 through a longitudinal slot 88 in the rear wall thereof. The valve stem is encircled by the actuator 86 and is held thereon by nuts 92. A spring 94 urges the valve stem 78 down, but permits the actuator 86 to be lowered after stem 78 seats in valve body 38. Actuator 86 is carried by a reciprocable tube 106 to which it has a rigid fastening and which slides in tube 1% supported on fill tube 34 by a bracket 184. A coil spring 108 is trapped within the tubes 18-8 and 166 and urges the actuator 86 up.

A control button 110 of molded plastic or other material is mounted in an opening in the handle 12 and has the lower end thereof abutting the actuator 86 for forcing it down. Button 110 and handle 12 are provided with cooperating shoulders 112 limiting upward movement of the control handle 110 and hence of the actuator 86 and valve stem 78 A nub 114 on the side of the control but ton provides a bearing for insuring reciprocation of the control button 110 without tipping.

Pressing down on the button 110 with the thumb forces the actuator 86 down, and this acts through the spring 94 and washer 98 to depress the valve stem 78, thus to shift the pin into the orifice 48 and to seat the bevelled lower end of stem 78 against its cooperating seat. This manually closes the orifice 48 to stop the flow of water from the tank 30. The valve stem 78 and pin 80 can be locked in this depressed position by tilting back the control button to catch a shoulder 116 thereon beneath the handle shoulder 112. The control is readily released for opening the valve by pushing button 110 forward with the thumb.

The normal reciprocation of the valve stem 78 in opening and closing the valve moves the pin 80 in and out of the metering-orifice 48 for clearing it of lime deposits, bubbles and other obstructions.

In assembling the iron, couplings 51 and 66 and tube 54 may be mounted on the sole plate. Tank 30 may then be put in place and valve housing 38 inserted through tube 34 and tightened with a screw driver. A sub assembly, including valve stem 78, actuator 86 and spring 108 may be inserted, and then the handle 10 with finger-control button 110 may be set in place. Bushing 36 trims the fill opening and may also serve as part of the fastening for handle 10.

It will be apparent that the structure hereinbefore set forth meets the objects enumerated and provides other advantages not specifically set forth. The valves and metering orifice are kept cool by placing them away from the sole plate and in good thermal communication with the water storage tank or reservoir. The ball valve utilizes the simplest possible construction for effectively shutting off the water supply when the iron is up-ended for idle period. The water caught in the basin 77 by dam 76 and the later held in the pocket 75 insures substantially instant steaming after an idle period. The storage of this water helps to keep the adjacent passageways cool for reducing liming there. The large cross sections of the various passageways and the large area and thin section of cover 26 of the steam generating chamber further help to maintain the passageways and valves cool and free of liming.

The horizontal displacement of the outlet of the water tank and the inlet to the steam generating chamber provides for greater thermal separation of the valves from the steam generating chamber, provides the place for damming up and storing the water for quick starting, and provides for the ready fitting in of the ball valve while leaving room for the pin 80 for clearing the metering orifice, all in a space with a small vertical dimension.

The construction disclosed further facilitates assembly of a sole plate and tank separately in such a manner in that they can be readily assembled while still occupying a minimum of space in the completed iron.

Various modifications of the illustrative example here in shown and described will occur to those skilled in the art and are to be understood to form a part of my invention insofar as they fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A steam iron including a sole plate having a steam generating chamber, a water inlet fitting in the top of said steam generating chamber, a water tank above said sole plate and spaced from said inlet fitting, a bracket engaging said tank only near the top thereof and supported on said sole plate for supporting said tank and minimizing the conduction of heat thereto, said tank having a water outlet fitting in the bottom thereof horizontally displaced from said inlet fitting and spaced from said sole plate, whereby to minimize the conduction of heat from said sole plate to said tank, and a water conduit connecting said two fittings.

2. A steam iron comprising a substantially flat sole plate, a steam generating chamber, water supply means, support means for supporting the iron in idle position with the sole plate tilted from horizontal operating position, conduit means for conducting water from the supply means to the steam generating chamber and including a valve seat, said conduit means extending generally in a direction toward said support means and extending downwardly with the valve seat facing generally upwardly when the iron is in idle position, and a valve member disposed in said conduit means and normally removed from the valve seat during horizontal operation of the iron but shiftable automatically on to the valve seat when the iron is in idle position to arrest flow of water to the steam generating chamber.

3. A steam iron as claimed in claim 2, wherein there is provided a metering orifice between the conduit means and the water supply means, and a separate manually operable valve for controlling the flow of water through the metering orifice independently of the position of the iron.

4. A steam iron as claimed in claim 2, wherein the conduit means includes a compartment in advance of said valve seat and wherein said valve member comprises a gravity actuated ball valve disposed in said compartment.

5. A steam iron as claimed in claim 4,. wherein the bottom wall of the compartment is recessed to receive the ball valve and restrain the same against movement toward the valve seat during normal horizontal operation of the iron. I

6. A steam iron as claimed in claim 2, wherein the conduit means includes an outlet to the steam generating chamber and a dead end pocket extending generally in the direction of the support means to trap a supply of water when the iron is tilted to idle position whereby to facilitate substantially instantaneous starting when the iron is returned to horizontal operating position.

7. A steam iron as claimed in claim 2, wherein the conduit means includes a duct fitting attached to the water supply means and a water duct extending from said fitting for conducting water to the steam generating chamber with the valve seat disposed between said duct fitting and said water duct.

8. A steam iron as claimed in claim 7, wherein the duct fitting provides a cavity in advance of said valve seat for receiving the valve member during horizontal operation of the iron.

9. A steam iron comprising a substantially flat sole plate, a steam generating chamber, water supply means, support means for supporting the iron in idle position with the sole plate tilted from horizontal operating position, conduit means providing a fluid passage between the water supply means and the steam generating chamher and having an inlet from the water supply means and an outlet to the steam generating chamber, said fluid passage extending generally in a direction toward said support means an dextending downwardly when the iron is in idle position, and means providing a pocket as a continuation of said conduit means disposed beyond the outlet to the steam generating chamber and generally toward the support means for trapping water in said pocket when the iron is tilted to idle position to facilitate substantially instantaneous starting when the iron is returned to horizontal operating position.

10. A steam iron as claimed in claim 9, wherein the fluid passage includes a basin in advance of the outlet to the steam generating chamber for collecting a small quantity of water to be delivered to the pocket when the iron is tilted to idle position.

11. A steam iron as claimed in claim 10, wherein the basin is constricted in advance of the outlet to the steam generating chamber for limiting the rate at which water is poured therethrough when the iron is tilted to idle position and tending to direct water from the pocket into the steam chamber when the iron is being returned to horizontal operating position.

12. A steam iron as claimed in claim 9, wherein the fluid passage includes a darn disposed in advance of the outlet to the steam generating chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,222,305 Tricomi et al. Nov. 19, 1940 2,231,275 Marvin Feb. 11, 1941 2,336,807 Schwartz Dec. 14, 1943 2,596,684 Hedenkamp May 13, 1952 

